At least three phrases now hold a special place within the American lexicon: “social distancing”, “self-quarantine” and “going remote”.
These responses to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, have (temporarily?) changed society. Among the most disruptive changes is the move to remote or online learning. What will it take for our students to succeed in what will be a new education frontier for many?
If you are among the families who have a robust internet connection and a computer your child can use, you are already much further along than many.
Beyond connectivity and hardware, however, there are other challenges. If your child:
a) needs assistance managing their time
b) is still working on intrinsic (internal) motivation
c) does not yet advocate for themselves
d) already felt disconnected from school
d) forgets lessons soon after they are taught
The next blog posts (including this one) might be useful for you. Over the next few weeks, I will share what I can find on ways to meet these challenges. In this post, I will focus on time management.
Your child’s school may provide tips on remote learning in general. Hopefully, these tactics will build upon what they share with you.
Time Management
Without the structure of class schedules and routines, you’ll likely find the need to replace that at home. In addition, consider the following:
- Sitting down with your child and a calendar at the beginning of this new journey to set goals and discuss upcoming events. Then revisit those goals periodically.
- Setting up daily times for watching lectures (online lessons), studying, completing homework, and reflecting on what was learned
- In addition to daily homework, build in time for long term assignments after breaking them up into smaller tasks (research, writing, seeking guidance)
- Post scheduled times on a frequently seen wall so that there’s agreement and something concrete to point to
- Illustrate a progress bar on the wall where scheduled times are kept to keep track of completed assignments
- If room permits, set up a study space where video lectures, homework, and review will take place
- Pay attention to possible distractions (you may have to lock up their phones during study time)
- Consider your home environment and whether you might have to make changes to accommodate your child’s needs (is your music too loud? Can they see the television when its on? Are other children having trouble keeping quiet?)
- Help them prioritize their work for the week
- Build in down time for recess (breaks), free thinking, and movement
Community colleges, companies like Blackboard, and virtual learning entities like the Florida Virtual School have been providing distance education for quite a while. Each have their own approaches to delivering education. You will have to develop your own.
Setting up the right learning environment for your child will not be easy. However, a potential upside is the opportunity for us to get to know our children better as students. It has been shown that children thrive when their parents or guardians are more positively involved in their education. The new normal that the coronavirus thrusts upon us necessitates that kind of involvement.
“I am definitely going to take a course on time management…just as soon as I can work it into my schedule.” –Louis E. Boone
Note: WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show for March 18, 2020 discusses the move toward remote learning.
Free Schedule Templates to Consider–
- https://templates.office.com/en-us/schedules
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/
1ML63jJWc2CVpCGUGhi03BHmlccoq-RZACLnldGJrt7o/template/preview - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/?ftv=1
- https://spark.adobe.com/templates/planners/
Sources:
>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242096287_A_simple_time-management_tool_for_students’_online_learning_activities
>https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0a5e/012e76fab07cf14b16e2453c340cd63862e2.pdf
>https://wp.wpi.edu/catalyst/2017/12/06/top-5-time-management-tips-for-online-learning/
>https://cps.northeastern.edu/blog/story/5-secrets-effective-time-managers
>http://support.csis.pace.edu/nactel/gotoclass/timemanagementguide.cfm
Thank you! We are all trying to manage this ‘new normal’, particularly when it comes to the education of youth. Articles like this really help provide sanity and support. I appreciate the information and resources shared here.